I was too stunned to do anything but stare at her for a few seconds. “What the hell are you doing in my car?”
“I said drive!” she yelled and pressed the barrel of the gun into my cheek.
I peeled out of the parking lot and turned onto the road.
“Why are you doing this?”
“That’s not for you to worry about. Just do as I say, and don’t make this any harder than it needs to be.”
“What do you want me to do?”
“Drive to the highway and head north,” she instructed and tapped my cheek with the gun.
“Then what?”
“I’ll tell you when you need to know. Until then, just drive. And don’t do anything stupid, or you and your boyfriend will regret it.”
Her words sent my internal panic to a new level. I was right. Something was wrong. And she was behind it.
When I came to a red light, I briefly closed my eyes and inhaled deeply, trying to calm myself. I needed to keep a level head and try to figure out how to get away from her and find Coal.
“What did you do to him?” I managed to ask.
“Just keep your mouth shut and drive.”
I did as she said and continued to drive in silence. Part of me was grateful that I didn’t have to hear her voice, but the other part of me wanted to demand an explanation from her and beg her not to hurt Coal. The only comfort I had was knowing Game was expecting a call from me. I knew he would alert the masses when he couldn’t find me or Coal.
We’d been on the road for over an hour when she told me to take the next exit. “Look for a gas station on the right. You’re going to turn onto the road beside it and drive for half a mile or so until you see a dirt road on the left. Take the dirt road and stop when your car is no longer visible from the road.”
“Okay,” I said quietly and glanced in the rearview mirror as I exited the highway. We were in the middle of nowhere, and there were absolutely no cars around.
I found the dirt road with ease and came to a stop when I could no longer see the road. I assumed if it wasn’t visible to me, then my car wouldn’t be visible from the road, but I didn’t think it mattered all that much since I hadn’t seen a single vehicle for miles.
“Now what?” I asked and put the car in park.
When I turned to look at her, her lips formed into a cruel smile. Before I could utter another word, she raised the gun and slammed it into the side of my head. I tried to fight back, but the first hit stunned me, making it impossible to defend myself in time. I felt her hit me two more times before everything went black.
* * *
I wokeup feeling like death. My head was hurting in a way it never had before, and there was a burning pressure in my chest. I slowly opened my eyes, only to be met with darkness.
When I put my hands down to push myself to a sitting position, I felt dirt and rocks beneath my fingers and realized I wasn’t at home in my bed. I was outside on the ground somewhere and had no recollection of how I’d gotten there.
I tried to feel around for my phone, but even the smallest movements made my head pound in agony. I was so cold, and everything hurt. I just wanted to curl up into a ball and go back to sleep. But something told me not to. Something was terribly wrong; I just didn’t know what. But I did know I couldn’t stay where I was. I needed to get up and find help.
With the little bit of strength I could muster, I managed to get to my feet and immediately felt like I was going to fall over. It was so dark I could barely make out any of my surroundings. I tried to listen for anything that would give me a clue as to where I was or which way to go, but all I heard were the sounds of nature. There were no car engines in the distance or the buzzing of nearby homes.
I didn’t know which way to go or how far I’d have to walk to find help, but I knew I had to at least try. I couldn’t stay where I was and wait for someone to find me. Surely, someone was looking for me, right? But who? Why couldn’t I remember anything?
Trying to remember what happened to me made my head hurt more than it already did. So, I focused my attention on trying to walk and ignored the painful protests of my body.
Thankfully, my legs seemed to work just fine, even though the pain in my head and chest was almost unbearable. It hurt to breathe. So much so that I’d grimace and tense with pain each time I inhaled too deeply. Then, my head would throb. It was a vicious cycle.
One such instance was so bad I had to brace myself against a tree while I vomited. I knew if I let myself hit the ground I wouldn’t have the strength to get up again. And I refused to die alone in the woods.
I took a few minutes to recover before I forced myself to continue walking. I don’t know how long it took, but it felt like an eternity had passed by the time I came to a paved road.
The sight should have brought me some relief, but I hadn’t heard a car the entire time I was walking. Which meant the likelihood of finding help close by wasn’t very high.